


Adventures in Paradise

by Mellowyellowdiamonds



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Chapter one is angsty but the rest will be my usual cheery style, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Olicity reunion fic, S7 finale spoilers, What happens beyond paradise, gets silly in the later chapters because I am always silly
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-16
Updated: 2019-06-13
Packaged: 2020-03-05 19:38:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 17,937
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18835387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mellowyellowdiamonds/pseuds/Mellowyellowdiamonds
Summary: After twenty years Felicity steps through the portal to reunite with the love of her life.Their love remains as strong as ever and they find purpose  in paradise. However when an unexpected event occurs they find themselves scrambling to work out the viability of remaining in paradise.





	1. Imagine me without you

**Author's Note:**

> Hallooooo
> 
> How is everyone faring after that finale?
> 
> I loved it very much. I have a soft spot for tragically romantic epic love stories. So much in fact that it's spurred me on to write this fic. 
> 
> The first chapter is angsty but I intend to make the rest of the story fluffy and fun complete with what I think is a pretty good add on Happily Ever After.
> 
> Warning: I'm not resetting time in this fic so those 20 years they lost in canon are still lost. My brain and writing is not good enough for that and plus it's not the story I'm interested in writing.
> 
> I hope you enjoy it and come along on this ride with me.

She didn’t know how long it would take or what it would entail. All she knew was that she was one step closer to seeing him again. Oliver. For twenty long years he’d never left her mind for a single moment.

There had been times when she thought it she would have to break one promise to keep another. Fight for their children's safety like she had promised Oliver but sacrifice herself in the process which meant breaking the promise she'd made to find him again.

Felicity wasn’t sure what was worse. Never seeing her husband again or the knowledge that he was out there waiting for her to emerge. Waiting for a day that would never come. Fortunately the universe that had always been so unkind to them was merciful this time. 

Felicity takes a deep breath as she smiles into the abyss. She was going to miss her babies terribly but she would also be able to tell Oliver everything about them that had transpired over the last twenty years. Besides they were no longer babies. William was a successful businessman and Mia... well Mia was Felicity's fierce little rebel with skills to rival her father. 

There was a sense of freedom that Felicity hadn’t felt since the night Oliver left. She had done everything Oliver asked of her. She’d shielded Will and Mia and guided them to a place where they could now protect themselves and others. They were ready to lead independent lives and flourish, even without her there with them. More importantly they had each other. 

“He should be waiting for you over there,” the Monitor tells her in his deep, serious tone. This meeting was so much less ominous than their last. Felicity had briefly wondered how long their trip would take and if she was required to make small talk along the way. Luckily it seems like she had stepped into a portal that was leading her straight to Oliver. 

“Well that was a lot faster than I expected,” Felicity smiles pleasantly at the Monitor before scanning her eyes in search of Oliver. 

“Not that I’m complaining but would it have been so hard for you to whip me here and back to see him during the last twenty years? Surely you gave him some down time in between whatever quest it was you sent him on?”

“Your husband was righting the wrongs of the universe Ms Smoak,” Monitor gives her a solemn, unimpressed look.

“Hey I’m not complaining. Not really. As long as he’s really here and this is not some wild goose chase I will forgive you for separating us for the last twenty years,” Felicity says raising her hands in mock surrender.

Monitor gives her a neutral look that is laced with what she detects to be a tiny hint of amused exasperation.

“Felicity.”

His voice is soft and yet somehow exactly like she remembers it. Felicity swings her body around in an instant, yet the enormity of the moment freezes her and prevents her from flinging herself at him like she so desperately wants to.

He was completely different and yet in some ways exactly like she remembered him. His hair was grey, his face showing signs of the passage of time. His eyes however…well she’d recognize those eyes, that look on his face anywhere. In his eyes Felicity could see his love, all the passion and pain of the last twenty years. 

She smiles through her tears as she recognizes the spark of adoration in them. Heart eyes. Twenty years and he still has the same heart eyes he so often wore when he was mooning at her during their first seven years together. 

“Oliver,” she cries and suddenly her feet are moving, propelling her towards him. He must have been running too, she doesn’t really know how but suddenly she’s pressed against him, burying her face into his chest. His arms are wound tightly around her and she can feel his tears in her hair.

“I understand this is what you both have waited for. I hope it is everything you wish. I will return as necessary.” 

Oliver and Felicity are both vaguely aware of the Monitor’s words before he vanishes into yet another portal, however they are too fixated on each other to give those words any real weight. Instead their lips find each other. 

The kisses are soft, gentle at first. Joyful kisses of two lost souls who were now finally reunited. Felicity hadn’t dared let herself dream what it would be like to kiss him, to taste him once again. Instead she’d shelved those feelings away like a beautiful memory, a dream in a box that was to be opened again one day. 

Now the dream was a reality and reality was glorious. Oliver must have thought so too as his kisses became more urgent and needy. 

“Twenty years I’ve waited to feel this way again,” he whispers in between kisses. “I didn’t know if I would survive, if you would survive, if it would be twenty, thirty or one hundred years. All I knew was that for as long as I lived I would have waited for this day.”

“I love you,” Felicity tells him, echoing one of the last things they'd said to each other.

“I love you.” 

***

Everything that happened after their initial kisses was a blur. Oliver and Felicity who had spent the better part of two decades focused on details simply allowed themselves to feel, to be lost in the moment without any care or thought. 

Felicity casts her mind back to the last few hours (she briefly wondered if there was a concept of time where ever they were) as she lay there, wrapped in Oliver’s arms. 

Somewhere along the way their kisses weren’t enough as they lost control and surrendered themselves to twenty years of longing. Suffice to say it was a miracle they both survive their physical reunion.

Felicity lets out a small giggle as she ponders the idea of the two of them surviving Star City and the Crisis only to finally perish due to their reunion sex. 

“I never thought I would hear or see you laugh like that again,” Oliver says softly as he sits up. His arms are still grasping onto her waist firmly, something he needed in order to feel secure and grounded. It was a reminder of what the last twenty years without her had done to him. 

“I haven’t laughed like that in a long time. But I knew I would some day. And that some day is today,” Felicity smiles at her husband, her eyes welling up again. 

Not wanting to waste time on another sob fest after losing him for so long, Felicity quickly blinks her tears away and changes the subject. 

“Now that I temporarily have my wits about me back, where are we exactly? This looks like a luxury cabin of some kind. Did your old friend Mr Monitor set us up in a fancy cabin in the woods?”

Felicity casts her around her surroundings, which she had only noticed for the first time. They were on an opulent four-poster bed, complete with an intricately carved wooden bed head. Lacy white curtains surrounding the bed added to the romantic feel. The sheets she noticed were bright pink with pictures of smiling baby elephants on them that were in complete contrast with the tastefully furnished room. 

“I…when the Monitor dropped me off here, he calls it the Paradise Realm, he recreated the cabin in Bloomfield. I stayed there. It made me feel closer to you. Somehow I felt being there, in those surroundings I could share a part of the pain I’d left with you.”

Oliver's voice chokes up as he strokes her face. She was so beautiful. Even more beautiful than he remembered. How was it that he was old and grey and Felicity looked like she hadn’t aged a day. She’d been tasked with the arduous task of protecting their children alone and yet it seems like the ravages of time had spared her. The only discernable difference was the stylish bob she wore as her new hairstyle and the fact that her eyes crinkled more when she smiled. 

“Oh Oliver it wasn’t your fault. It was the universes’ fault. You always end up as the chosen one but it wasn’t your fault that you had to leave. I know that, I’ve always known that.”

Felicity flings herself at him and peppers his face with lots of little kisses in the hopes of kissing all his guilt and sorrow away. He hadn’t let go of the guilt in 20 years but then he’d been away from her. She was going to have to work on alleviating all that pain now that they were together again. This was her Oliver just as she remembers him. With a big heart that was just a few sizes too big sometimes.

“Was it hard?” he asks, gripping onto her hand, his eyes searching hers desperately for answers. He didn’t know what he was hoping to hear. He knew it must have been crippling for her and yet somehow a part of him desperately wished she hadn’t suffered in that cabin alone with their tiny infant.

“No harder than it was for you saving the universe,” she tells him, rubbing his back in that soothing way he hadn’t felt for almost a lifetime. “I can’t lie to you in the Paradise realm. It was terribly hard. The loneliness, the thought of neverending years without you.” 

Felicity crawls on top of Oliver and cups his face in her hands. 

“But I had Mia, our amazing daughter and I had William who I had to keep an eye on from afar. I recruited Nyssa to train Mia and half the time I was too busy being aggravated with her. There was also Smoak Tech. All those things became my new normal.” 

“You living for long periods under the same roof with Nyssa would have been quite a sight to see,” Oliver chuckles as he casts his mind to how the normally solemn assassin often liked to press Felicity’s buttons or merely bait Felicity because she enjoyed attention from his wife. Nyssa was a unique woman who had proven to be a worthy friend in the end. 

“Believe it or not besides our children she’s one of the people I will miss,” Felicity laughs. “She really grew on me and she’s Mia’s godmother and mentor so I feel like I can’t hold anything against her anymore no matter what she says to me.” 

Felicity’s smile fades as she looks at her husband’s worn face. It was as handsome as ever yes but even more burdened than she had remembered it. 

“I had him create this new cabin when he told me you were ready to find me again. I didn’t have much time to think, to process it. I just got him to change the Bloomfield cabin to this because I wasn’t sure if you had any bad memories you needed to leave behind.”

He’s gazing at her with those sincere puppy dog eyes that leaves Felicity with no doubt she would have waited for this man for centuries, not just decades. 

“I want to know about you,” she whispers. “I have been so worried about you. I still had some semblance of a life but you were all alone.” 

“I had hope,” Oliver smiles at her. A beautiful, radiant smile that lets her know he’d survived the last 20 years just like he’d survived the island. Because that was who her husband was. A survivor who fought for the greater good and the people he loved. 

“So did I,” Felicity cards her fingers through his salt and pepper hair. “I had an abundance of hope. It fuelled me, kept me going.” 

“All that hope wasn’t in vain. We’re here in paradise now. Together.” Oliver is gazing at her again. Felicity blushes profusely because the look on his face is so reminisce of them in their twenties even though here they are, two wrinklies with fully grown children.

“We’re too old for you to look at me like that,” Felicity tries to cover up her face, her cheeks flushing red. 

It really was ridiculous. After everything they’d been through she was now in a cabin, naked, feeling giddy and stupid over her husband.

“I will always look at you like that Felicity,” Oliver tells her earnestly as he gently pries her hands away from her face and gazes at her in wonderment before pulling her in for another kiss. There will be an eternity of kisses waiting for them but Oliver still treasures each and every one.


	2. Granting You a Dream Like Life

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi Guys!!!
> 
> I'm so inspired I have your chapter 2 right here!
> 
> Warning: This story gets hokey in this chapter and will continue to be progressively more silly as it goes on.
> 
> If you wanted a poignant reunion I suggest you stop now. If you enjoy hokeyness and want a really over the top happily ever after then by all means stay with me. 
> 
> I really hope you guys like this story! I'm having a blast writing it.

“Cage fighting huh,” Oliver grimaces, clutching his wine glass so tight that Felicity almost expects to hear a crack any minute.

“To be fare she never loses,” Felicity consoles him in a placating tone as she reaches out to sooth him.

“I’m sorry Oliver. I'd always waited for the other shoe to drop. In her early teen years Mia was happy and so well adjusted for someone who lost her father so young. She was only ever a handful in the sense that she could take out someone with one finger. She was such a good girl. We only had each other so she was the dream daughter any mom could wish for up until she discovered my secret office. After that night everything changed between us and I guess the full force of teenagehood kicked in.”

Oliver takes a large gulp of wine and places the glass on the table. His face falls a little when he realizes the guilt he’s involuntarily inflicted on his wife.

“You never have to apologise to me for anything Felicity, least of all in regards to our two children. You did your best and your best was a spectacular job. Mia is half a Queen. Even if we’d raised her together I couldn’t guarantee the rebellion wouldn’t hit at some point.”

Oliver shifts his hand so that it is now enveloping Felicity's small one and raises it to his lips, kissing it gently.

His wife beams at him in response.

“Don’t forget my questionable fashion and life choices at 19,” Felicity says looking a little sheepish. “Will was considerably easier all things being equal. Poor kid. There was a part of me that so badly wanted to cave in and reach out to him but fear always won in the end. He was perfectly safe for 20 years away from us.”

“Well you did it. You saved Star City and now they will have each other for the rest of their lives,” Oliver reassures her. His face falls as he looks at the wistful look in Felicity’s eyes.

Felicity misses their children. He did too but he’d been pulled away on the threat of a dissolving universe. Felicity had left their children to keep a promise to him, to be with him so that he didn’t have to face an eternity of solitude. He’d left her and the kids once and now he’d taken his children’s mother away from them.

One glance at her husband’s face and Felicity immediately works out that he’s wracked with guilt and why. One would have expected that over the course of 20 years, after all the things he’d seen, the tasks he had completed, Oliver could finally be rid of the guilt he continuously carried around with him. However it seemed like never-ending guilt was the one thing he was unable to shake despite having two decades to try and grow out of it.

“They are fully grown people now and they don’t need me anymore,” she tells him in a gentle voice as she gets up from her chair and deposits herself on his lap.

“You need me more. They will miss me like they miss you but they don’t need me like you do.”

“Now that I have you, it’s unthinkable how I survived two decades without you,” Oliver murmurs as he nuzzles into her neck before adding, “Do you think William can convince Mia to stop cage fighting?”

“If anyone can stop Mia, it’s Will. He’s certainly not afraid of her even though she can beat him into a pulp. I wish you could see them together Oliver. They are so completely different and yet their differences are so complimentary. They are always squabbling just like the best siblings should.”

“They sound like the perfect team,” Oliver looks up and smiles at his wife. He tightens his arms around her waist slightly just to reassure himself that this was truly real. He had just finished a meal with Felicity and she was on his lap, gazing at him, her eyes full of love and understanding.

It was simply a miracle to have her here. Sometimes he woke up with a start, heart racing, panic and fear coursing through his veins. Not because he had nightmares anymore but because he was scared that this was all one great dream or illusion that could dissolve in an instant. Still if it was an illusion he hoped it would last forever. Oliver was perfectly content to live in a state of madness if madness meant this much happiness.

They stay in that position for a while, having no idea how much time has passed by when suddenly Oliver detects movement in their cabin.

He stiffens and upon first glance notices Felicity has tensed up on his lap too. One look at her face and Oliver can see the memories of that night in their Bloomfield cabin flooding back as the colour drains from her face.

“NO,” Felicity declares firmly, hopping off his lap. “I waited twenty years. Twenty years both you and I did what we had to do and it’s only been one month. I will not tolerate this. Under no circumstances will I endure this again.”

“I am not here to separate the two of you.” The Monitor’s familiar low rumbling tone echoes through the cabin as he suddenly appears before them.

“The last time you pulled this stunt things didn’t end so well for us so excuse me if I don’t believe you,” Felicity snaps as she glares at him with her hands on her hips.

Oliver realizes he should be deeply concerned upon seeing the Monitor again however something about seeing Felicity in all her ferocious splendor lifts his heart despite the circumstances.

Felicity was and would forever be his always, the great love of his life. However he could not help noticing that the girl…woman who stepped through the portal was a little bit broken. Twenty arduous years had taken a toll on her. There was a quiet gentleness mingled with sadness that he’d never seen in her before.

There was nothing quiet or gentle about Felicity right now as she stands in front of him, arms crossed angrily, attempting to use her tiny body to block the Monitor from him.

“My husband has saved the universe. He saved the world and was transported to this Paradise Realm by you. Why are you even back? What the frick has Barry and his wretched children done now? Which idiot is it that needs saving this time because let me tell you Mr Monitor unless it's one of our children we are not interested and Oliver is not going anywhere?”

“I came not to demand but rather to request a favour Ms. Smoak. From the both of you seeing as you are the people most qualified for this job,” the Monitor tells Felicity calmly, seemingly unfazed by her tirade. He was greatly familiar with Felicity Smoak’s spiritedness and did not hold it against her. It was this spirit and plain speaking that had forced his hand and the agreement to take her to Oliver whenever she was ready to summon him. Felicity's tenacity and sheer willingness to do whatever it took to see her husband again had moved the Monitor who generally felt very little emotion and did not have a great deal of patience for worldly romantic love.

“Again I point out that my husband saved the fricken universe and is in retirement so whatever it is that we are supposedly expert at you can keep it! We’re not interested.”

As soon as the words leave Felicity’s mouth, her curiosity creeps right in, betraying her resolve.

“What is it we are supposedly expert at according to you?” Felicity asks, peering at the Monitor.

Oliver bites back a smile. His wife’s curiosity always got the better of her. After the enormity of their reunion had subsided the first thing she did was question him on the Paradise Realm and how it worked. She’d even planned numerous experiments to further investigate this new world both of them were living in. Oliver had been looking forward to a lively exploration of paradise where he intended to serve as Felicity’s assistant in more ways than one.

“Your husband has indeed saved the universe. It has come to my realisation that in order to avoid a repeat of the same tragedies a certain balance needs to be restored. Various details and events, should they be changed, can serve to bring equilibrium to the universe in order to avoid another crisis. I hope to enlist you both to assist in bringing about these changes which will aid in establishing ultimate equilibrium.”

“That makes no sense. Stop talking in riddles and cut to the chase. We are in retirement and you want us to work for you. What’s in it for us? What if we die? Why should we bother?”

Felicity is all over this before Oliver can get a word in edgewise. Not that he wants to commence negotiations with the Monitor. The last deal he struck didn’t exactly fare well for him so Oliver decided it was best to stand back and let Felicity take the reins this time.

“You will have the satisfaction of knowing the universe is safe for your children. In answer to your other question, no, it is impossible for you to perish on any of the tasks I have set for you. You will be performing them as a being from this realm and cannot be injured or killed in the other realms.”

“I’m going to need a better deal than that Mr. Monitor,” Felicity waves him off impatiently. “Forgive me if I’m not really jumping to do the universe any extra favours this time. You want our help, you offer me something concrete for my children. And I’m not talking about money. They have enough of that.”

Oliver gapes as his wife for a few seconds before he picks up his jaw and beams at her admiringly. Apparently bargaining was a skillset she’d developed in the last twenty years.

The Monitor shifts his gaze from Oliver to Felicity for a few seconds, the latter looking bored and unmoving from her stance.

Finally he holds out his hand and conjures up what appears to be a tiny fern with only one bright green leaf.

“The leaves on this fern represent the additional years of life granted to your children. Each task you perform successfully will cause the plant to sprout a new leaf, adding an additional decade of life to be shared between your two children.”

“Natural life with no disease or fate as well? What I mean is if they are perfectly healthy but are facing evil villains constantly would the additional decades mean they are unkillable by the villains?” Felicity narrows her eyes and peers at the Monitor suspiciously. If she was going to agree to any deal, she was damn will going to check the terms and conditions of it.

“Each leaf represents additional absolute life whether it be death from natural causes or external forces,” comes the response. The Monitor’s neutral, stoic stance is faltering a little as he looks slightly irritated by Felicity’s interrogation.

“We’re in if Oliver agrees to this too,” Felicity informs him cheerily before turning to her husband with an expectant look on her face.

“I will back you up one hundred percent,” Oliver beams at his wife. “Anything for our kids. We can only eat, drink wine and swim in the ocean for so many days.”

“Plus he says we can’t die,” Felicity adds looking very pleased about this. Adventures together where there were no consequences. This paradise realm gig was not bad at all.

“Your tasks are listed in this Book of Love,” the Monitor informs them as he produces a thick volume out of thin air and hands it to Felicity.

He then proceeds to summon what looks like a large hand held mirror that is about a foot long and holds it out to Oliver.

“You may use this mirror to view your subjects. It will aid you in determining your successes and failures. Should you achieve ultimate success on a task, a new leaf will sprout on your fern and the task instructions in the book will fade.”

“Hey can you make this mirror show our kids as well?” Felicity tries to push for an additional benefit to the agreement. She would give almost anything for Oliver to be able to see their children. Their kids’ safety was practically guaranteed at this point but how Felicity wished they could observe their children even just for a moment.

“I suggest you do not attempt to exploit my generosity Ms. Smoak,” the Monitor tells her sternly. He’s beginning to look impatient now.

“Farewell Ms. Smoak and Oliver Queen. We shall not meet again for some time.”

“Aren’t you going to explain our tasks?” Felicity asks but there is no response. The Monitor vanishes as abruptly as he appeared.

“Can that man be anymore cryptic?” Felicity huffs in exasperation.

“Well at least things are a bit more upbeat this time round without him claiming he’s seen my death a thousand times,” Oliver dead pans.

***

“Oh FRACK. FRACK FRACK FRACK,” Felicity voice chimes from the kitchen table as Oliver puts the final touches on their dinner.

“That’s a lot of fracks honey,” Oliver says in an amused tone as he hands Felicity a glass of wine and places a tray of nibbles in front of her.

“Read this and you’ll understand why,” Felicity shoves the book in front of him with an incredulous look on her face.

Oliver obediently pulls up a chair beside her and begins to thumb through the book.

_Subject: Felicity Megan Smoak_

_Subject: Oliver Jonas Queen_

_Refer to individual dossiers for Earth Code of each pair of subjects._

_Objective: To bring forward and secure the romance of the above mentioned subjects on each respective earth at a certain point in time. Successful completion of task will result in certain catastrophic events being avoided creating a flow of positive energy to the multiverse._

“We’re…we’re playing cupid to different versions of ourselves? I’ve been knocked out far more times than I can count. Please tell me I’m not seeing things Felicity.”

“Nope you’re not seeing things. The Monitor is really sending us off to match make ourselves.”

Felicity shoves a cheese straw into her mouth and begins to chew absentmindedly.

“I really thought we’ve seen it all but nope. This is by far the weirdest thing we will do together Oliver. Hook up versions of each other to earn long life credits for our children.”

“Well you did say we are bigger than the fricking universe,” Oliver chuckles at her. “This is definately proof that it’s true.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hehe let the crazy adventures begin.
> 
> I wonder which Olicity scenario they will encounter first =P


	3. In Love We Trust

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Halloooooo
> 
> I made it! I made it with your update in 6 days! Wheeeee to me!!! This is what happens when I force myself to be efficient! 
> 
> This chapter reinterprets some events in canon. You may or may not agree with the characterisation of Olicity in this chapter. It is one of the reasons I hate writing canon but I am very committed to this story so this is *my* interpretation of things.

_“Because of the life that I lead… I just think that it’s better to not… Be with someone that I could really care about.”_

_“Well, I think… I think you deserve better than her.”_

 

“How the frack are we supposed to get them together? Why does he even want them together at this point in time? Oliver!” Felicity all but wails at her husband. “They haven’t grown yet. They have YEARS of growing to do. We can’t just get them together if they, well mainly you, haven’t had the time to grow.”

“Err maybe they have had different experiences to us and that’s why he, or the book wants them together. If they’re different they might be ready,” Oliver tries to comfort his wife in a soothing tone as he rubs her back while they both hunch over the mirror supplied by the Monitor.

It was strange watching what essentially looked like televised footage of their lives when they were young. 

“Nope I checked. Did you know I can get very good wifi when I jump into their world? And sorry to crush your hopes but their world, or at least the lives of the Oliver and Felicity of this world are identical to the lives we led. The Island, MIT, Russia, Isabel, it’s all identical.” 

There is a tinge of venom in Felicity’s voice when she says Isabel’s name and Oliver can’t help but wince a little. Felicity loathed Isabel that much was obvious. Not out of jealousy, she was well above that after everything they’d been through but simply because Felicity deemed Isabel to be a very nasty woman. 

“We…they are soooooo not ready to get together,” Felicity sighs again, hitting her head against the table. 

Oliver slides closer to her chair and drapes his arms around her shoulders, pulling her back against his chest.

“Do you remember the night we said goodbye?”

“How could I forget,” came Felicity’s much more somber response. 

“I told you my only regret was not telling you I loved you sooner. I still stand by that. If I could have my time over, if some external force gave a chance for a redo I would not have wasted a moment with you.”

Felicity wordlessly slides off the chair and waits for Oliver to take her place before snuggling into his lap again.

“It wasn’t a waste. We wouldn’t be who we are today if we didn’t go through all that,” she says stroking his chest to comfort him. She could comfort him again. She’d forgotten how much she missed just being able to reach out and touch him. She’d buried that feel for so long in the recesses of her mind in order to live.

“Well an external force has mandated we help them get together so maybe they are meant to be together at this point in time on their earth. I am all for growth, goodness knows if anyone needs it, it’s that version of me but if we can save them from all the heartache and pain we went through or give them more years of happiness, it would all be worth it,” Oliver adds in agreement.

“As much as I complain we don’t really have a choice. The book has decreed we are to get them together at this point in time to generate positive cosmic energy so that is our task. It’s not going to be easy,” Felicity sighs as she examines the morose looking faces of their doppelgängers in the footage. “They are unaware and in denial. I guess we will have to work for those tens years we hope to earn for the kids.”

“I loved you,” Oliver blurts out suddenly. “I just didn't know it. It hit me like a tonne of bricks how devastated I was that you were upset about Isabel. I felt like I’d blown up a happy twenty-year marriage Felicity only we weren’t married. Or even together. I used to dream about you all the time. I tried so hard to dismiss them, the dreams, telling myself that you were affectionate and attractive so it was only natural for me to dream of you. It drove me insane and then when I called out your name during…err…my time with Isabel I decided I had to keep you safe from me. Stop myself from destroying you.”

Felicity doesn’t say anything at first. She merely smiles and strokes his face.

“How did that work out for you?” 

“You had to raise our daughter alone for twenty years and gave up your earthly existence for me.” 

Oliver is gazing at her with his intense blue eyes full of love before he slowly starts to kiss her nose and then her lips. 

“Selfishly I am happy you did because as long as I have you with me, that’s all I want Felicity,” he whispers while still kissing her. 

Felicity kisses her husband back enthusiastically before pulling away and giving his cheeks a squeeze.

“We have to focus on the task at hand. One thing we know is how stubborn you are in general and how stubborn you were at that point in time. How do we deal with that? Alternate you could just keep digging your heels in. All this me, you, alternate me, alternate you talk is confusing.”

“Oh he likes to be on control but I bet he’s just teetering on the edge with his Felicity. Barely holding on. That’s what it felt like with you. The constant dreams, the way you smiled, the way you made me smile. One little push and those walls would have crumbled.”

“So now it all comes out,” Felicity smirks at him teasingly.

“Why do you think I ran to Sara? In hindsight I really desperately wanted to make it work with Sara so I could shut down my feelings for you and never go there.”

Oliver pauses suddenly and grimaces. “Now that I think about it, had Sara and I stayed together there might have been a love triangle, only with YOU in the middle of it.”

“Two dark souls, battling for you,” he mutters. “She was always commenting on how adorable you were. Her face would have that smitten expression I found vaguely familiar and now recognize it as the look on my own face when I talk about you.”

Oliver sounds slightly disgruntled and wraps his arms just a bit more firmly around her waist 

Felicity lets out a chuckle as the beautiful man who gave himself up to save the universe is sitting there with her on his lap, apparently still feeling a little possessive about her. 

“You can relax now honey. It’s going to be just the two of us here for eternity so there is no need to begrudge Sara a little playful flirting.” 

“What I was trying to say is that he…I had to fight very hard to maintain my control around you.” 

“So if we tinker with a few things we might just be able to push you over the edge,” Felicity concludes, clapping her hands together with glee. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_“You could just message or come find me instead of leaving me this hand written note,” Felicity tells him as she steps into his office._

_Oliver straight away notices that the bow on the collar of her polka dot blouse has been loosened. Her feet were comfortably adorned in the pair of panda flats that never failed to make him smile. Felicity was getting comfortable for the evening, for their nighttime activities as she liked to put it._

_If only they were the type of nighttime activities he’d been so vividly dreaming about he thinks to himself as he stares at her with that he hopes is a cool neutral expression._

_“Oliver what did you need to see me about that can’t wait for another thirty minutes?”_

_Felicity’s voice disrupts him from his thoughts. He’d been doing that a lot lately. Constantly distracted by the thought of Felicity even when Felicity was in the same room as him. He blamed it on the dreams. You would think they were a welcome relief to all the nightmares but they also haunted him in another way._

_Felicity was still the same fiercely loyal friend who didn’t hesitate to speak her mind but he just couldn’t think of her the same way. It must be all the dreams, luring and enticing, constantly showing him what could be instead of what should be._

_Oliver forces himself to focus. What happened with Isabel in Russia was a mistake. Isabel treated Felicity badly and he shouldn’t have hooked up with the woman who treated his friend and partner badly. That was it. That was why Felicity was upset and that was why he felt upset when he saw the hurt in Felicity’s face. There was nothing more to it other than the fact that he shouldn’t have slept with someone who treated his friend badly._

_That speech he’d made to Felicity about the life he led, that was simply him overreacting to seeing her upset. She was his friend. His partner. The one who brought light, laughter and smiles into his life and he didn’t like seeing her upset because as his friend he wanted her to always be happy no matter what. That was all._

_“Oliver are you ok?”_

_Felicity peers at him uncertainly before placing a hand on his forehead to check his temperature. The cool hand, not too cold, it was a perfect silky smooth optimal cool texture, moves down his cheek, gently nudging his stubble. Unwittingly Oliver closes his eyes and leans into it for a split second._

_His eyes fly open the moment he comes to his senses. Felicity to her credit is completely unruffled and is now comfortably sliding her hand to his shoulder, rubbing it comfortingly while watching him with a worried look on her face._

_“Yes. I’m fine,” he responds quickly, desperate to pull himself together. He really was losing his marbles. Felicity was concerned about him and here he was having some kind of internal break down._

_“Are you going to tell me why you asked me in? With this handwritten note on fancy stationary no less.” She waves a pink piece of paper at him._

_“I didn’t write you a note,” Oliver answers straight away. That much he knew for sure._

_“It’s in your handwriting. I would know your hand writing anywhere,” Felicity informs him calmly despite giving him a questioning look as she hands him the note._

_She was right._

_It was his handwriting._

_On stationary that was pink and littered with printed pictures of roses around the border._

_“This is my handwriting but I don’t know how it got here. I didn’t write it,” Oliver declares examining the piece of paper closely. There was a certain fragrance to it that was familiar to him. He’d never encountered it before but there was a sense of familiarity he couldn’t deny._

_“Probably one of those idiots who thinks I’m sleeping with you trying to play a prank on us. What a strangely innocuous thing to write though. I’m going to run a scan tonight and see who is responsible for this. They may just find their bank accounts a few thousand short due to generous donations to animal charities.”_

_Felicity’s eyes a narrow and there is a vicious, petulant spark in them that Oliver finds absolutely adorable._

_“I’m sure you’ll punish them satisfactorily. Since you’re in here why don’t we head off together? Show the note writer we don’t give a crap about what anyone says.”_

_Oliver doesn’t wait for a response but instead pushes out his chair and grabs his jacket. He was on his way out anyway._

_“I like the way you think Mr. Queen,” Felicity grins at him sunnily before glaring briefly at the offending piece of paper again. “I’ll grab my bag and be right back.”_

_She gives his face another once over to make sure he’s out of whatever funk he was in earlier and skips out of the room, seemingly leaving the events that took place in Russia behind them._

_Oliver finds himself staring after her, wondering what it would be like if he simply lets go and allows all that sunshine to illuminate him._

_***_

_The lift comes to an abrupt halt, causing Felicity who had been tapping away on her tablet, no doubt enacting her plan of revenge against the rogue QC employee who wrote the note, to lose her balance and stumble into Oliver’s arms._

_It seems like such a cliché, one of those cheesy things that only happened in the movies but it sure didn’t feel like that during the moment. Oliver had excellent reflexes because he was…well a highly trained killer. He was also hyper aware of Felicity and had treated himself to staring at her while the latter grumbled and groused as she tapped away. The moment Felicity’s body tilted at a perceptible angle, his arms were automatically ready to receive her._

_She lands neatly in his arms with her body pressed against his chest and his arms around her waist, steadying her but also having no desire to let go._

_Felicity’s cheeks redden slightly as she looks up to find Oliver staring intently at her, however she remains reasonably composed (as composed as anyone could be when they’re engulfed in Oliver’s arms) and throws him an inquisitive look._

_The wicked half of her wanted to stay there for a little longer, maybe give him a wide eyed stare just for the fun of it as he holds her in his arms but her more pragmatic side, the side that always wins, wants to jump straight to fixing whatever was causing the lift to malfunction. She’d never been stuck in a lift before actually and it would be interesting to see if she could fix one._

_Before she has the chance to extract herself from Oliver’s arms, a scratchy sound can be heard over the intercom and a vaguely familiar voice with a British accent tells them their lift has malfunctioned and is stuck in between floors eight and nine. The voice adds that maintenance has been contacted and they expect the problem to be rectified less than one hour._

_Oddly enough the person on the intercom does not apologise to Oliver or even acknowledge him._

_“Sit tight and we’ll get you out in a jiffy,” he tells them confidently. There was something off about the British accent that Felicity couldn’t pin point. The voice was ridiculously familiar too._

_“I guess we’ll just sit here and get comfortable,” Felicity says, reluctantly easing her way out of Oliver’s arms. Oddly enough he doesn’t seem to want to let her go. This worries Felicity somewhat. Oliver was not a tactile person (five years in hell will do that to you), at least she didn’t expect him to be but she knew when things bothered him or when he felt like she needed comfort, he would often reach out physically. By way of a shoulder touch, or a hand on the back. Not the other kind of physical._

_“Are you worried about being late for our nighttime activities?” Felicity stands on her tippy toes and whispers into his ears in what she thinks is a sympathetic tone. However the low whisper of her voice, the proximity of her lips to his ears renders the words not so innocent._

_Felicity winces when she sees Oliver freeze with an alarmed look on his face._

_“What I meant was I am pretty sure I can fix this lift if you give me a boost up,” she offers right away hoping to make up for her unfortunate choice of words._

_“No it’s too dangerous. They said it wouldn’t be more than an hour. Why don’t we just wait here?”_

_There is a small good-natured smile on Oliver’s face as he takes off his jacket and sits down on the floor. He looks so far removed from how she thinks he would react to being stuck in a lift._

_Cautiously Felicity sits down next to him._

_“You keep doing what you need to do. I’ll be right here meditating next to you,” he tells her in a comforting tone._

_Why was he being so zen about this, Felicity asks herself. She half expected him to grind his teeth and grunt at her to find a way to get this lift working right away._

_Felicity refocuses her attention on her tablet. They’d shared a big secret in a short amount of time but hadn’t known each other for that long in reality. Oliver was a complicated man. Maybe he was just zen when it came to these things._

_***_

_As he carefully watches Felicity work (under the pretense of meditating, she was too absorbed in enacting revenge to pay much attention to him) Oliver notices her getting colder and seemingly more uncomfortable as the time passes._

_It started with her pulling a cardigan out of her handbag and although the cardigan kept her comfortable for a while, Oliver notices a shiver running through her body as she’s typing._

_Without giving it any thought he takes his jacket and wraps it around her, moving closer so that their shoulders are touching._

_“Cold?” he asks giving her a concerned look. “They said one hour but it’s been almost two hours already. I wasn’t going to complain because you seem to be so absorbed in your work but maybe we better do something about it now that you’re feeling so cold.”_

_He would have been quite content to sit in this little space; half meditating while gazing at Felicity as she worked (she had the most amusing expressions when things vexed her) however it was obvious that Felicity wasn’t comfortable._

_“Aren’t you cold? It feels like the air temperature in this place suddenly plummeted.”_

_Felicity lets out another shiver and as soon as Oliver notices the goose bumps on her legs it’s the last straw._

_Without warning he picks her up and deposits her on his lap, running his arms up and down her legs and body in an effort to warm her up._

_“Oliver what are you….ooooh that feels better.” The protest fades on her lips as his warms hands move their way up and down her body, passing on much needed body heat. So much body heat. In fact Felicity was forgetting that she ever felt cold._

_She’s on his lap, his very warm lap and Oliver is running his hands all over her. His head is resting on her shoulder and he’s literally breathing down her neck as he earnestly tries to warm her up._

_“As soon as you’ve warmed up I’ll climb up the lift shaft and see what’s going on,” Oliver tells her in a low voice which sends shivers down her spine. This was not…not the kind of position she ever expected to be in with him. But here they were. With her on his lap while his hands glided across her skin. Platonically._

_Felicity takes a deep cleansing breath to clear her head and swivels her face back to catch Oliver’s eye with the intent to reassure him that she was fine and he didn’t have to hold her on his lap anymore. Unfortunately ( or fortunately depending on which way you look at it) Oliver moves his head at the same time and their noses brush against each other._

_They both take let out a breathy sigh in that moment as the world stood still. Oliver’s first instinct is to move his head back however he doesn’t do this. He simply pauses at waits. He was so tired. Tired of fighting it, tried of feeling like he was going crazy. It was in that moment the words “what if” sprang to life._

_What if he didn’t fight anymore? What if he didn’t try to run? What if he simply accepted and embraced the dreams. What if Felicity kisses him? What if Felicity feels the same way? What if he refuses to acknowledge his place and tries to reach for the moon instead?_

_Oliver closes his eyes and rubs his nose against Felicity’s. He wasn’t going to do it. He wasn’t going to steal a kiss from her. But if Felicity chose to bestow a kiss on him so be it._

_His question (and perhaps prayers) is answered when he feels her soft lips brush his. Oliver melts into the kiss and for a few sweet blissful minutes his arms and body are full of Felicity as they kiss. The kisses are gentle, yet intense, full of joy and unbridled passion. He’s dreamed about this so many times but now that he knows what the real thing feels like, his dreams were in no position to compete with the enthralling reality._

_“In my dreams these kisses always end one way,” he whispers in between more kisses. “But now that we’re here I want to do things differently.”_

_Felicity stills and pulls away, giving him a questioning look._

_Oliver smiles a beautiful, gentle, shy smile at her and leans in to steal another lingering kiss before adding tentatively, “Can I…can I come over to your place and make you dinner?”_

_“Sure…yeah…you can cook?” Somehow the notion of Oliver being able to cook rattles her far more than the fact that he’d just asked her if he could come over._

_“There’s a lot you’ve yet to learn about me Felicity,” he responds with a slight smirk in his smile. He’s preening a little now that the fear of rejection has been done away with. He so desperately wants to show Felicity that he’s more than an angry vigilante she’s fond of._

_Felicity breaks into a huge grin as she nods her head and cups his face with her hands._

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Ooooh I think they’re going to finally do it,” Felicity squeals with glee as she grips onto the Magic Mirror (dubbed of course by Felicity). After weeks of courting, flirtatious heart eyes, tremendous flirtation and marathon cuddle sessions that led nowhere, it appeared that alternate Felicity had had enough and finally decided just to jump her Oliver after yet another innocuous dinner with lots of touching and kissing. 

The clothes were flying off in alternate Felicity’s kitchen and they were just getting to the good stuff. Felicity rubs her hands together in anticipation before reaching for her wine. 

“Magic Mirror turn off,” Oliver’s firm voice commands and to Felicity’s dismay the footage displayed onscreen turns into images of lush green fields full of colourful butterflies and flowers.

“What did you do that for?” Felicity demands crossly. “They were finally getting down to business. Raunchy business I want to see.” 

“We can’t watch it Felicity. We can’t violate their rights,” Oliver tells her in a stern voice.

“Well you’ve been watching them cuddle for weeks now. I was waiting to get to the good stuff. Besides they are practically us. They would have been us had we not interfered.” She pouts at Oliver still looking very put out. 

“Honey they are not us. Not really. And we’ve been keeping an eye on them because the fern didn’t grow any new leaves yet but look at what I just spotted minutes ago.” 

Oliver places the tiny fern in front of her triumphantly. Sure enough one large, bright green leaf had sprouted. 

“Does this mean they’re on the right path? Or did the fern grow a leaf because they’re finally having sex? Let me just turn on the Magic Mirror again.” 

She’s about to issue a command when Oliver gently pries the mirror from her hands.

“No more voyeurism. Please? I’m not comfortable watching another version of you doing intimate things. It feels like I’m either cheating on you or violating her privacy.”

“But they’re so young and pretty,” Felicity whines at her husband. “I want to see them go at it. Like a video from our youth.” 

“You’re still young and pretty and that’s all I’m interested in,” Oliver grins at Felicity, leaning down to plant a lingering kiss on her lips in the hopes of getting her to behave. 

“Do you think they’re ready? I don’t think they’re ready,” Felicity laments when she finally resurfaces for air. “They have a lot of growing to do. Slade, League of Assassins. There is so much they bypassed by getting together in this new timeline.”

“They’ll grow together and figure it out,” Oliver assures her. “We did it and so will they. If they manage to bypass a few painful lessons I think that’s a good thing don’t you?” 

“I feel happy knowing they got more time together no matter how their story ends,” Felicity nods in agreement. “And we received our payment in the form of the leaf. I don’t think that Monitor would be paying us if he didn’t get what he wanted.” 

“I dunno about that,” Oliver teases, nipping at her ear playfully as he lifts her up from her chair. “The Monitor seems cowered by you. Wouldn’t surprise me if he paid you just because he didn’t want to fight about it.”

“But I do honestly think they are going to be fine,” he adds in the hopes of convincing Felicity to stop obsessing about their doppelgängers. “How about we leave them to their happiness and enjoy some quality time before the book sends us on another task.” 

He swings her around bridal style and puffs up in pride that he can still do this easily after twenty years. 

“Naked Sundays?” Felicity asks, wiggling her eyebrows at him suggestively.

“You’re just saying that because there are no defined days here so it’s naked Sunday every day.” 

“Exactly,” Felicity nods her head vigorously with wide-eyed innocence as she tugs at his shirt and tries to pull it off.

Oliver’s laughter rings through their cabin in paradise as he once again revels in happiness.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed that! If I feel motivated enough I may just start work on the next chapter tomorrow (I normally take a break between chapters). 
> 
> I haz a plan!!!!!!!!!!!! One that I love!!!!! I just need to keep writing and get to the end of it!


	4. The Reset

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Helllooooooo
> 
> Are we ready for the next chapter?
> 
> Just so you know there is a lot of SUPER SKETCHY NON SCIENCE in this chapter (towards the end) that you'll need to hand wave!
> 
> I also took a lot of liberties in the way I interpreted Oliver's character in the 314 flashbacks! But he was sooooo smitten! Remember those heart eyes!
> 
> ***
> 
> On another note I hope my friend Statsgirl from the forum likes this! I wrote this for myself and for her. She read the very first (and very awful) story I wrote which also had a bit of universe hopping. She was sooooo nice about it even though it was rubbish and I shall always be grateful for that!
> 
> She's also read all my super weird chinese fics! Every single one of them!
> 
> This is my attempt at concocting the happiest HEA I can think of for her without a timeline reset.
> 
> HOPE YOU LIKE IT BABE!!!!!!!!!!!!

“I don’t understand,” Felicity stares at the now blank Magic Mirror willing it to provide additional details about the task at hand. She had this overwhelming urge to tap on it as if it were one of her beloved devices. Run a search, find more information.

“The mission date in the book is correct. The details shown about their lives during that time are correct but they haven’t met each other yet. I know you told me you came back to Star City for a brief stint but we never ran into each other. And as far as I’m concerned, based on my searches, this set of doppelgängers never crossed paths either. How can we bring two people together who each don’t know the other exists?”

Felicity stares at the mirror again as if by doing that it may just feel sorry for her enough to provide more information however it remains inanimate causing Felicity to sigh loudly. Over the last few months, since they began embarking on this newfound profession as matchmakers for different versions of themselves, they had managed to keep an immaculate track record full of wins no matter which point in time the book sent them to.

Truth be told Felicity was secretly slightly disappointed. She’d hoped to observe completely alternate versions of herself and Oliver but rather all the doppelgängers they’d seen so far seemed to have very similar life experiences which hadn’t deviate from their actual real pasts all that much.

Felicity lets out another frustrated huff, feeling slightly guilty as she glances at their children’s fern, which had sprouted five new leaves in addition to the first one that appeared after their first task.

Sixty additional years to be split between the two of them. Those were not bad numbers at all. It wouldn’t surprise her if the book, mirror or Monitor (possibly all three) had caught wind of her yearning for a more exciting mission and decided to challenge her with this one. Or they had decided Felicity and Oliver were being overpaid and earning new leaves too rapidly. 

“Any ideas?” Felicity turns to her husband who she suddenly realizes has this far away look in his eyes. Oliver isn’t sad. It’s not the resigned look of acceptance he gets when they talk about the kids but rather he looks as if he’s dreaming about something. Something that happened long ago. 

“I’d say a dime for your thoughts but we don’t really need dimes here and judging by that hint of a smile on your face I’m guessing you’re thinking about something good.” Felicity gives his bicep a squeeze and tilts her head to smile at him. 

“Taking a well rested break from plotting missions I see,” she grins at him. It never fails to bring her joy to know that despite everything he’s endured in this lifetime, Oliver does hold onto some happy memories. Memories he’d created with her.

“I have a something to tell you. Something I’ve never told anyone before.”

Oliver snaps back to reality and faces her with what appears to be a slightly sheepish and yet somewhat bashful look on his face. Felicity is instantly intrigued. After all these years goodness knows what else he could possible have to tell her and judging by his expression, there was no doubt that this was a joyful memory. 

“I knew there was a reason I waited for you,” Felicity smiles at him fondly. “Alone in paradise together after two decades and you still managed to create intrigue.” 

“Our new mission. You said we’d never met before during that period of time but we did meet. Well I saw you. I was stealing some data from QC and you walked in to drop off a file. I hid but that was the first time I saw you.” 

His expression morphs from a fond smile to slightly cocky one as he puffs up his chest and beams at her. “You were babbling in your usual adorable way. You said I was cute but too bad I was dead.”

“Oliver Queen I don’t believe you,” Felicity attempts to slap him on the arm with her hand. “You were in a world of trauma during that time there is no way you would remember something as trivial as seeing me talk to myself. I will admit the talking to myself bit sounds believable but are you sure it was me you saw and your brain didn’t just cook this up because you’re in love with me now?” 

Oliver catches her hand neatly and kisses it.

“I’m sure. I remember that night and the words you said vividly. I smiled into the darkness that night. After everything that happened on Lian Yu, I actually smiled to myself that night. It was a reminder that laughter and humor did and could exist once again.” 

“Oh Oliver,” Felicity says just before she rushes over to pepper little kisses all over his face. “I’m sorry.” 

“I’ve contemplated telling you a few times but ultimately decided it wouldn’t change anything so I just kept it to myself as my happy little secret. My perfect memory of us, of you, that was all my own. ”

“I understand,” Felicity smiles gently, giving him an additional few kisses for good measure.

***

Felicity gives Oliver a few hours to process and take a well-deserved trip down memory lane (apparently about her which she couldn’t help taking great delight in) before she approaches him with her plan to tackle the situation. A plan that he was probably not going to like and will object to vehemently. 

“Absolutely not,” Oliver declares, crossing his arms stubbornly. He is reacting just as she expects he would.

“I know it sounds like we are using alternate me as bait but we aren’t really. Alternate you will take care of her. I’ve done thorough background checks. Up until that point in time they led identical lives to us.”

“No,” came her husband’s stubborn reply once again. “I was a mess during that time Felicity. Not to mention Waller. You know what Waller is like. I’ve told you all there is to tell about her. You can’t willingly push the other version of you into a cannibal’s pit.”

“I really thought you were going to say Lion’s Den. Cannibal is a bit harsh, even against Waller isn’t it?”

“The answer is still no Felicity.” 

“Oliver we HAVE to get them together or in each others orbit according to the book. I personally think it is a strange place to start too but that’s what the book or the Monitor or whoever picked so we have no choice. They must have a reason for it. Besides I trust you, any version of you to protect me.” 

Felicity pauses as she considers the truthfulness of that statement before adding, “Except that Nazi from a long time ago. He was not nice. But you showed him so we can forget about that.”

“Felicity I know I’ve told you a lot about my past but you see me now, you’ve had kids with me, you’re in love with me so you don’t know who that guy was back then. He was dangerous. And I am sorry but I will not stump up any version of you to trade more years for the kids. We can opt out of this one and do another task. It’s not like they are going to take away any of our existing leaves if we fail.” 

“Have you ever thought that maybe she could do him some good? Maybe the next two years of his life, Russia, wouldn’t have to take place if they met earlier. The book is weird and we don’t fully understand its reasons but every couple we’ve helped at every single point in time has been better for it.”

Felicity slips onto Oliver’s lap and twines her arms around his shoulders, nuzzling into his neck. “You told me that night when you saw me, you realized there could be joy and laughter in your life again. So why don’t we give alternate you a chance at that. Maybe that’s what the book wants and it’s what is needed to balance out all the doom and gloom in your story.” 

Oliver’s expression softens slightly even though he is looking at her reluctantly. 

“Oliver it’s me and you. Ok alternate you and me. Bigger than the frigging universe right? He’ll protect her. Or failing that we will. We’ll have eyes on then at all times. But I know he won’t fail. I’d even bet a leaf on it.” 

“You have far too much faith in all these versions of me,” Oliver grumbles but Felicity knows at once she’s gotten her way. 

*** 

_“Are you going to kill me? Because you don’t look evil and I swear if you let me go I will not breath a word of this to anyone. Anyone I promise. I’ll even pinky swear on it.”_

_She sticks out her pinky, wiggles it at him and Oliver finds himself desperately suppressing the urge to smile despite the dire straights he was in._

_He’d gone to QC for the data Waller wanted and yet somehow all hell had broken loose and now suddenly he finds himself with a chatty, bespectacled, cute blond in tow. Cute. Oliver closes his eyes and shakes his head. He really was losing it if he was taking time to acknowledge that the babbling blonde was cute._

_“I’m not going to kill you,” he grunts at her. “But the woman I work for might. Just follow my lead if you want to live. I will see to it that you are ok.” He winds an arm around her shoulder and guides her into the waiting vehicle._

_“You know you can just let me go. You have your secrets and so do I. Mine are actually pretty juicy too. Everyone has a past right? Why don’t you just let me go and we never speak if this again? I shall forever think of you as the stranger with a questionable wig but never bring it up to another soul.” She’s ranting now and Oliver notes it’s something she does when she’s stressed._

_“It’s not a wig,” he deadpans in an attempt to hold himself together. There was something about her that he found unsettling. Her little rants made him want to smile inappropriately. Grabbing her had been a mistake but Waller had heard them on comms so there was no hiding her existence from Waller. He had to find another way to extract this poor girl out of this unfortunate situation._

_Oliver kicks himself mentally for being careless enough to attract her attention. He had been so certain that he’d secured the office and was always so highly aware of his surroundings. How or why she was suddenly able to stumble into him was a mystery that was too late to examine now._

_“It’s….an interesting fashion choice,” Felicity concedes, reaching out to touch a tuft of hair and looking like she’s trying to suppress a smile. Oliver finds himself wondering why she’s not fully in hysterics and ignores that fact that he doesn’t flinch when she tries to touch him. Touch his head to be precise._

_“Did you think I looked cuter in that photo you were admiring?” Oliver can’t help smirking at her as he drives them back to where he was due to meet Waller and Maseo._

_“I was making small talk,” the girl shrugs looking shamelessly unperturbed._

_“In the dark with an old photo.”_

_“Hey it’s creepy wandering around QC during the graveyard shift. It makes me nervous. I babble when I’m nervous in case you haven’t worked it out already. And it turns out I had good reason to be on edge since you’ve gone and grabbed me.”_

_“I’ll take care of you and make sure you’re ok,” he assures her with what he hopes is a comforting smile. He hadn’t smiled for so long he wasn’t sure what a smile on him looks like._

_“Not in a body bag I hope,” she quips back. “Just kidding. I’m only kidding I promise,” she adds quickly upon seeing his face fall._

_Curse her wildly inappropriate sense of humour. There was something about him that she found oddly comforting despite the fact that she perhaps should know better. She believes him when he says his boss or whoever will go after her. There is a kindness in the way he looks at her that tells Felicity he will not let anything bad happen to her._

_It’s not the soundest of reasoning on her part but considering the fact that someone Starling thought long dead and gone was running around like a ninja, Felicity figures she’s just going to have to take a leap of faith._

_“You may have made a poor choice in grabbing me but I trust you.”_

_She beams at him and holds out her hand. “Since we’re obviously in the weeds together you may as well know that my name is Felicity Smoak.”_

_Oliver wonders how anyone’s smile could be so radiant considering the circumstances she was in. Slowly he takes one hand off the wheel and takes her small, warm hand on offer._

_“Felicity Smoak. Hi, I’m Oliver Queen.”_

_***_

_“Mr. Queen your sloppiness has exposed us. Just how did you think this was going to end the moment she saw you?”_

_Waller glares at him with an impressive mixture of anger and disdain. For a moment Oliver wonders where it all went horribly wrong. If only he’d had time to think, if only he’d tried to pause and contemplate things at all he might have done something else to protect Felicity from Waller. Bringing her here into the thick of things was an ill-conceived idea on his part. One that he hopes Felicity will not have to pay for._

_Oliver stills and clenches his fist. She won’t be paying for anything. He’ll shoot his way out of here if he needs to. Felicity with her rambles and light was going to leave this place without losing a single hair on her head. He would see to it._

_Lian Yu had taught him to view everyone as a threat or target. Felicity was different. Unfiltered and full of light she was the first person he could see as a person and despite what his survival instincts told him Oliver knew he needed to know that this girl was going to flourish and be ok. She represented a certain hope; faith that he thought had left him long ago._

_“End with me being alive hopefully,” Felicity chimes in quite unfazed by Waller._

_“I see you are trying to decode some stuff. It will take you 5 hours at most at the rate your friend there is typing. That’s assuming he doesn’t hit any roadblocks. Tell you what. You don’t kill me, oh please judging by the cold murderous look on your face I know you’re thinking a quick bullet to my brain would solve all your problems.” She pauses to take a breath before resuming again._

_“Now where was I? If you don’t kill me I can get it done in two hours. Find the location you want. Voila, you stop mass destruction, I get to live and Oliver there doesn’t have to face a lifetime of guilt from failing the poor chatty girl he picked up one night.”_

_When Felicity finishes her rant she notices both Waller and Oliver staring at her. The former in a mentally calculating away, contemplating Felicity’s usefulness while the latter may or may not have been blushing despite looking stressed._

_Felicity frowns as she ponders why on earth Oliver would be blushing before she stumbles on the answer. “Oh I didn’t mean pick up, pick up. Like a one night stand pick up. Maybe “run into” was be a better choice of words.”_

_“You there stop your incessant chattering,” Waller snaps at Felicity while rubbing her temples. The girl was right. Despite always wanting to call the shots Waller knew she was running out of time and options._

_“You’d feel a lot better if you just let me do my thing and hack. I know it sounds really used car salesman–ish the way I am hawking myself to you but really I can get that done in two hour tops. Probably less.”_

_“Maseo give her the computer,” Waller barks at the other ninja. Felicity briefly wonders whether she should call them agents or ninjas. If she did get out of here alive, she will make a mental note to hack into this ARGUS agency and see what they had going for them. Take that Amanda Waller._

_***_

_“Congratulations Ms. Smoak. You were right. A bullet to that brain would have been a waste indeed.”_

_Waller is smiling at Felicity, looking as pleasant as it is possible for someone like Waller. As Felicity examines Waller’s face she notes that it might actually even be a real smile, although calculated._

_“She’s done everything you asked. Time to let her go Waller,” Oliver jumps in before Waller gets an ideas, if she hasn’t already._

  
_“Oh don’t you worry Mr. Queen. Ms. Smoak is far too valuable to be harmed. There is no need to work yourself up into a state. I have a proposition that may interest Ms. Smoak and those unique skills of hers.”_

_“She’s not interested in anything you have to offer. I’m taking her back to Starling. Back to her life. You agreed to that the moment you let her decrypt that data for you.”_

_His words sounded so final. Felicity was going to go back to Starling. Would he ever go back? Would they ever meet again? Would they acknowledge this brief strange adventure that they shared or would they never cross paths again?_

_He had no business contemplating such things but here he was. Contemplating such things._

_“Actually I am interested in what she has to offer,” Felicity answers quietly as she flashes Oliver a placating look._

_“You cannot be serious,” he cries grabbing onto her hand. He loosens his grip a little upon seeing the surprised look on her face. She smiles and shakes her head a little to let him know he hadn’t hurt her. Felicity might not be trained but she could read people, read him well._

_“Can I please have a moment with Oliver?” Felicity asks Waller, calmly but firmly, suddenly seeming very different to the girl he’d taken away with him._

_“It looks to me like this will be a common occurrence that I must get used to Ms. Smoak,” Waller smirks at her before striding out the door._

_“Felicity you have to leave. You have to leave now while she’s in the mood to let you go. She will have other things to occupy her and I will see to it that she doesn’t bother you in the future.”_

_Unbeknownst to Oliver he’s grabbed both of Felicity’s hands as he earnestly tries to convince her._

_“I know. I know you want what’s best for me. I know I sound crazy and fickle for even contemplating a deal with the devil but…look we don’t know each other that well. What I did today, the work I did, helping people. I really liked that feeling. That sense of purpose. I just…I want to try for something bigger than my job and QC and my life in Starling.”_

_Felicity didn’t get into the sordid details of her past. There was no need and besides they’d just met. But in that moment she knew whatever proposal she contemplated from Waller was going to offer her something beyond her little rat race life in Starling. There was a time when Felicity thought that was the life she wanted, the life that was good for her. The events of the last few days, her run in with Oliver made her realize the big wide world was so much more than that._

_“No one gets into this line of work voluntarily Felicity.” Oliver is not above pleading now. “Waller is dangerous. She holds things over people. Blackmails them. We are all chess pieces in a game to her. A game to serve the greater good but a game no less.”_

_Oliver closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. If he could walk back any decision he’d made in his life, this would be it. By running into Felicity at QC, he’d set her on this path of destruction._

_“Will you please stop looking like that,” Felicity punches him softly on the shoulder before setting her hand on his back to rub small soothing circles on it. “You have not destroyed me. I am a world-class hacker and I want to see what Waller can offer me. You look like a guy with a story and you do not need to add mine to the long list of guilt you carry.”_

_She rests her chin on his shoulder, looking quite comfortable with him in a way that sent butterflies fluttering in his stomach._

_“I’m not the frail princess you think I am. I promise.”_

_“I was thinking more like Tinkerbell the fairy,” Oliver quips back looking defeated. “Stubborn and headstrong.”_

_He’d kept his promise. Sort of. She was alive and as long as he had any breath left in him he’d watch out for her. This foray that she insisted on taking with Waller was beyond his control._

_***_

_Oliver paces around nervously waiting for Felicity to exit from her “chat” with Waller. He was in full offensive stance, ready to strike in case Waller should do…something to Felicity._

_This was ridiculous. Completely and utterly ridiculous. Waller was a piece of work but she wasn’t going to murder Felicity after telling her she wanted to work with her. That was not rational and if there was one thing he could rely on, it was Waller being rational and clinical._

_He really needed to calm the hell down. He caught Maseo casting him a knowing, sympathetic look like he was losing his marbles._

_“Say hello to your new IT girl,” Felicity emerges and beams at him with a dazzling smile on her face. Evidently even conversing with Waller for lengthy periods could not dampen her mood._

_“She wanted to send me to some underground bunker to hack for her which I normally wouldn’t object to but then how safe is it really. You always see villains storming the bunkers and shooting the poor IT nerds. They would have state of the art machinery but I decided I would rather tag along with my one new lone friend, that’s you by the way.”_

_As Felicity regales her negotiations with Waller, she casually slips her arm through Oliver’s. The act itself and the warmth exuding from her, causes him to smile as he finds himself having no desire to pull away._

_“So from now on I will be assisting in all your missions and should a bad guy storm in I trust that you’ll have my back and not let them shoot me just like I’ll have your back on comms. Do we have a deal? By the way you’ll find me a huge upgrade from your friend Maseo in terms of comms. Not that I have anything against Maseo. Man of very little words. Less words than you. But he seems nice.”_

_“Felicity,” he says quietly, as he places a hand on her shoulder to distract her from talking._

_“Felicity I never wanted this for you.”_

_She scrunches her nose animatedly at him in the most delightful way and Oliver finds himself suppressing another smile. He didn’t realize he had so many smiles left in him that he had to keep trying to suppress them._

_“Can we skip the guilt and torment or do you want me to buy you a drink and hear you out? Just this one night and then no more guilt and torment about me ever again ok? I’m a big girl. I made my choices.”_

_“As I was saying, I never wanted this for you but yes we do have a deal. I will never let anything happen to you.”_

_“Well I can’t say the same for myself since you’ve gotten along fine without me so far but I will try to make your life easier.” Felicity grins at him and punches him lightly on the shoulder._

_Oliver beams at her and they shake on it even though he doubts she’ll be making his life easier. Certainly more rich and vivid but easier…well he wasn’t sure. But he didn’t mind._

***

“Awww look at how cute they are. Look at how stupidly they are smiling at each other. I could watch this for the next few years to see where they end up. Look at alternate you being all smiley.”

Felicity is cooing as she grins from ear to ear while watching footage on the Magic Mirror.

Even Oliver had to grudgingly admit that them, well alternate them were extremely cute.

“I am guessing this version will bypass Russia since he looks like he’s been struck stupid and will be having adventures with alternate Felicity his partner in crime.”

“Lucky bastard,” Oliver grins. “About time one of them got a free pass to skip some of those five years.” 

“I really want to know when they’ll get together,” Felicity sighs contentedly before addressing Oliver again in an accusing tone. “You didn’t trust him. You fought so hard against using the other Felicity as bait. You should always have faith in yourself.” 

“It wasn’t really him I didn’t have faith in, it was Waller,” Oliver says in defence of himself. “Plus you have to understand honey, it’s very uncomfortable for me to set any version of you up for danger. What if the tables were turned and it was late thirties me with the bad knee that you had to set up as bait against Prometheus?” 

“I see your point,” Felicity agrees with him immediately as she instinctively glances at his knee. Despite both of them being in their 50s now she’d never felt fitter and in this paradise realm Oliver’s knee was as good as new.

“You better catch one last look at them if you’re a fan,” Oliver tells his wife. “The fern just sprouted another leaf. The mirror is going to stop showing footage of them soon.”

Oliver places the fern on the dining table proudly as he produces a spray bottle out of nowhere and begins to spray and gently wipe the leaves. Felicity feels a stab of pain despite earning yet another leaf this time. Oliver adored that plant and was always fussing over it even though it was magic and didn’t need watering or any care. She knew it made him feel closer to their children. It was something he could do for them after so many years apart.

Slowly she makes her way behind Oliver and wraps her arms around his waist, resting her cheek on his back. 

“When they both live until one hundred or beyond, I am sure they will know it was due to something that we did. They will know we are thinking of them every day.” 

***

 **Star City 2041**  

“Mia where have you been? I keep calling but you never pick up. You send me one-word messages. Mom said we’re supposed to take care of each other so how are we going to do that if you won’t even speak to me. Eww have you vacuumed at all in the last month?”

William scrunches up his face as he begins to pick up the containers of old take out and starts to assess the living space to see whether he should attempt to clean the entire house himself or convince Mia to let him hire a nice set of professional cleaners who would polish and do a once over on the joint. 

“How would you like to find Mom again so you can wail at her about me like the telltale that you are?” Mia smiles at him with a manic and overly enthused look on her face. 

For a moment Will is taken back not sure if his little sister is serious in her enthusiasm or being her usual characteristic snarky self.

Will peers at her again and tilts his head to get a good look at her to make sure she wasn’t doing drugs. If you hand wave the cage fighting (which Mia never loses he notes with pride despite the unsavoriness of it all) his sister was a good kid. Mia didn’t do drugs. Hard liquor was more her thing. Still losing their father and now mother for good was a traumatizing thing for anyone, even his tough nut of a sister, to cope with.

“Oh relax I am not on drugs. But I may have stumbled on a clue on how to get Mom and Dad back.” 

Her eyes are so full of fire and spark that Will feels like he would rather be punched in the face or gut than put that light out with his harsh doses of reality.

“Mia, Felicity told us she’s going to find dad. She left with the Monitor. Dad struck a deal remember? Felicity was lucky the Monitor agreed to take her to be with Dad. It’s a one-way trip kiddo. I know you want to bring them back but there is nothing we can do about it. This is beyond you or me. We’re talking the mystical universe here. It’s not even science.” 

Mia hears him out impatiently but shows no sign of wavering from her new crackpot idea.

“What if it is science? What if we can find a way to track down this Monitor guy who took Mom and Dad. I have been researching. I’m not as good as Mom or you but I know my way around a computer. My searches indicate that just before Dad was taken away, there were reports if sightings of a strange man who fits the description of this Monitor Mom and Dad left with.”

William’s first instinct is to brush his sister off but he doesn’t want to kill that spark of hope that’s in her eyes so he decides to hear her out and let her down gently. 

“Mia these are all stories. We don’t have any possible way of tracking down this guy. Unless…”

An idea dawns on him. It was a crazy, insane and far-fetched idea but it was better than accepting their fates as orphans for the rest of their lives.

“Unless I modify the source code of Archer to scan for ALL anomalies of DNA on earth. Anything that is not human should show up. That Monitor guy has appeared on Earth several times. I just need to isolate the oddball DNA sequence that stands out, match it to everywhere that we’ve know he’s been, work out his exact genetic make up and then…”

“Run a search across the multiverse to find out where he is,” Mia finishes his sentence for him.

Out of nowhere her face falls suddenly and William is reminded that she’s almost fourteen years younger than him. Still a baby by comparison. A smart mouth, annoying baby who could kick his ass if she knew he referred to her as a baby. More than anything his sister still needed their parents. Forget doing this for himself or their parents. He needed to do this for Mia. 

“We blew up Archer.” Her shoulder’s slump and Mia deflates before his eyes. 

“Felicity recited the source code to me and I remember it. I can work with that and modify it to run across the multiverse.”

The way Mia’s eyes light up again lifts his spirits and suddenly William feels like they might just be able to do this after all.

“When I was going through Felicity’s stuff, I found that she had a device to travel to another Earth, I think our parents knew someone there. I can pull apart the device and use it to build a gateway to connect to other parts of the multiverse.”

“But…what if Mom and Dad are not on another Earth but in limbo somewhere? That’s why they can never come back.” Mia is suddenly looking very young and unsure of herself.

“We just want to find the Monitor like you suggested earlier. Then we’ll use him to find Mom and Dad. Cross that bridge when we get there.”

“You memorized Mom’s code? Are you sure you aren’t her biological child as well?” Mia quips and just like that William feels less worried about his sister. A sharp-tongued Mia was a happy Mia.

“Felicity tells me that you’re smarter than you let on. Come one I’ll get you that device and you can deconstruct it for me.” 

He ruffles her messy curls and is almost tempted to try and put her in a headlock but thinks better of it. He didn’t want Mia to headlock him back. That would not be a nice experience when comparing their physical strengths.

“You code and I’ll build,” Mia agrees amiably. 

“You can be the brawn to my brains,” Will replies carelessly and straight away regrets it as he spots the disgruntled look in his sister’s eyes as she begins to crack her knuckles. 

“Hey remember I am the only family you have for the time being. You have to be nice to me,” he reminds her as he prepares to dodge. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo what do you think?
> 
> Are you excited?
> 
> Heee bet you thought I didn't have a plot and it was just going to be Olicity adventures! Well it is a slim plot but everything is geared for my interpretation of the ultimate HEA!


	5. Noble Aspirations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry it's been 1000000 years since the last update. It's winter in my neck of the woods and I caught the winter lurgy.
> 
> But here it is finally!
> 
> ***
> 
> You guys a were so enthusiastic about 314 Olicity in the last chapter I'm thinking of spawning off a side story for them. Nothing big just maybe a few chapters of them falling in love. Would you guys read it?
> 
> Hope you enjoy the update!

"Surely there could have been a better idea than tranquilizing your ex,” Oliver hisses as he hauls a slipping Ray further up his shoulders. They had been sent to that night where he walked in on Felicity and Palmer’s first kiss, resulting in him angrily wiping down an entire table in the Bunker later.

It was a long and dim distant memory, one he had not thought about for decades. In fact his last recollection of Ray involved memories of a cheerful fellow with a temperament somewhat similar to Felicity’s and based on that his feelings towards the man had been rather warm.

That was until he took a forced trip down memory lane and witnessed Ray making moves on the love of his life. Well the love of the other Oliver’s life.

Felicity (whom he suspected had cooked up this half baked idea on the fly so as to prevent him from getting more terse about the situation) had suggested they lure Ray Palmer away with a mysterious message about his beloved Atom suit to distract him from kissing the other Felicity. Just as Felicity had anticipated, Ray had skedaddled off quickly, the suit still being his first priority, giving them a clear opening to shoot him with a tranquilizer. 

Sedating Ray was easy, removing him from the building and finding somewhere to stash him until he “came to” was more challenging.

“He’s not my ex,” Felicity protests as she trots along, trying to offer moral support (well trying to sooth Oliver who was a lot more tense about these events than she had anticipated he would be.). “He would have been the other Felicity’s ex but we are going to prevent that so technically he isn’t anybody’s ex.”

“I know you’ve killed the cameras but where are we going to keep him?” Oliver grunts as Ray is now snoring softly and snuggling into the nape of his neck merrily. This sent goose bumps and shivers all the way down Oliver’s spine and not the pleasant kind either. Somewhere along his journey in life he had ended up here with Felicity smiling at him placatingly while he was carrying a passed out, cuddly Palmer. It was the strangest and possibly most peculiarly unpleasant situation he’d ever been in.

“Let's just put him in his lab. He’ll come to and think he got distracted with his work and fell asleep in there. At least that’s how he’ll probably try to explain it to himself,” Felicity suggests.

“I didn’t know you were such an authority on Palmer,” Oliver can’t help snipping at his wife as she leads the way to Palmer’s lab. Of course she would know so well where Palmer’s secret lab was. Yes he was being childish but being brought back to this place, this time, seeing the other Felicity in her blue dress and necklace…well there was something about it which raised his blood pressure a little. Ok a lot. All that wasted time. He knew he was to blame for this particular section of their history but it still didn’t make it any easier. 

There was also the matter of how Felicity had chosen to handle Palmer which raised his hackles a bit as well. All in all Oliver just wanted to retreat back to paradise and have a good old sulk and a cuddle from his wife. He didn’t care for this particular trip down memory lane. It unsettled him and made him feel petty. He clearly thought he was above all this years ago.

“Ray isn’t the hardest person in the world to read Oliver. Remember you used to say you thought we were related so of course I find it easy to predict how he would react.” She places a hand on her husband’s back, the part of it that wasn’t covered with Ray anyway, and gives him a few soothing rubs.

“You want to tell me what’s going on? You always seemed to be on good terms with Ray in the past.”

“You drugged him,” came Oliver’s petulant response.

“Yes I used tranquilizers on him. They’ll wear off and he’ll be none the wiser. I don’t understand why it would offend you so much. It’s a lot less violent than punching him.”

Felicity peers at her husband with a slightly baffled look on her face before she hacks the access code to Ray’s office. Oliver doesn’t say anything but simply walks in and deposits Ray on the floor propped up against a wall. To Felicity’s surprised her husband also drops down next to Ray, still looking put out.

“Oliver will you tell me what is going on,” Felicity sighs as she sits down cross legged across from him.

He’d been perfectly fine when they received their mission and was now growing more peevish by the minute.

“You drugged me when we were in Nanda Parbat,” came his sheepish yet sulky response.

Yes I did and you said you loved me all the more for it…” Felicity stops suddenly as realization dawns on her. She suppresses the smile that desperately wants to form on her lips. So this was what it was all about.

“I thought I was the only man you would ever drug,” Oliver continues deciding to unleash his burden now that he’d started.

“Oh honey,” Felicity coos at her silly, jealous husband with a look of absolute adoration on her face. “I would have never guessed that was what was upsetting you.”

She sidles up to him and proceeds to kiss him heartily on each cheek multiple times.

“I promise you are the only man I have ever roofied. I shot Ray with a tranquilizer. Very similar to stabbing Slade with a needle full of chemicals if you recall. You I kissed and offered a drink to. Completely different.”

Her kisses have moved to his lips now and in that moment Oliver is utterly mollified. That is until Palmer decides to join in and presses a sleepy kiss on his shoulder, causing Oliver to jump up startled.

“Did he…did he just kiss my shoulder,” he hisses at Felicity, looking utterly offended.

“I believe he did,” Felicity laughs at him, unable to deny that the situation was just getting more ridiculous by the minute. “He should be knocked out completely. Maybe his system is not responding to my drugs because he’s from another earth. Aww it’s very sweet. I think he likes you.”

As she says this Ray leans his head on Oliver’s shoulder and begins to snore happily once again with a blissful smile on his face.

“Felicity we have to get out of here,” Oliver whispers at her fiercely, well as fierce as a whisper could be. However Felicity notes that he does not move from his spot out of fear that Ray would wake up if disturbed.

“In a moment. Just let me jot down some outlines for his chip to help him along. If our guess is correct this world’s Felicity will not be around to help him much more after tonight.”

“Can’t we just get out of here now,” Oliver protests. He was appeased by Felicity’s little speech earlier but that didn’t mean he wanted to hang around while Palmer cuddled him.

“Do you want him to keep pursing the Felicity of this world?” Felicity asks with her hands on her hips. “Because if he cant work out his chip that’s what he’ll do. You want him to leave them alone to sail smoothly yes?”

Grudgingly Oliver nods at her.

“Good! Now roll him off you and go look for a snack. I’m hungry.”

“Fe-li-cit-ee,” Oliver protests once again looking scandalized. How she could be focused on a snacks at a time like this he did not know and to switch so suddenly as well. Come to think of it he could have sworn she ate something out of the Palmer Tech vending machine while they were lying around in wait for Ray.

“I need food for this brain to work,” Felicity tells him unrepentantly. “It’s been a long time since I have done this. I need to munch on something while I think. Now just roll him off gently unless you’re enjoying the cuddles in which case it’s my turn to be offended.”

With a big sigh Oliver gently rolls Ray off his shoulder and lays him on the floor. When the other man protests mildly he finds himself yanking off his jacket and stuffing it under Ray’s cheek to appease him.

“Remind me to remove that when we leave otherwise he’s going to wonder why on earth he spent the night cuddling up to Oliver’s jacket.”

“Oh yeah I forgot you’re dressed identical to the Oliver of this earth to blend in,” Felicity laughs. “Poor Ray. Yes we must remove that. He’s been messed with enough for one night.”

***

“Do you think it worked?” Felicity asks as they hovered over the Palmer Tech surveillance footage to watch the other Felicity and Oliver locked in an angsty embrace. There were some tears and tragic heart eyes galore but they did not let each other go and were seemingly caught in their own little bubble.

“We’ll know soon enough when we get home and check the plant,” Oliver responds. “Speaking of home why are we watching them on these cameras? Let’s just go back and use the mirror if you’re curious about what happens next.”

“Not yet,” Felicity informs him. She shuts down the screen, the doppelgängers who were the focus of their mission now out of her mind.

Oliver watches his wife with quiet, concerned curiosity. He could see that Felicity had already moved onto the next thing. She’d been a bit off kilter lately with her attention shifting from one thing to the next extremely quickly.

“Do you think we can go visit Lyla and Dig in this world before we leave? Didn’t you go to dinner at their place on this night? Do you remember what Lyla served for the meal? Any chance it was chicken cacciatore?”

Felicity peers at him eagerly with an enthusiastic look on her face as she wills him to remember what it was that he ate. Whatever it was he had eaten being of huge importance to her.

“Felicity honey,” Oliver says in a careful voice as if one were talking to an over excited child. “Why does it matter what I ate and even if I could remember how does that help you exactly?”

“We can sneak into their kitchen and take a serve. It’s not really stealing if we’ve helped their earth. We can leave some money behind. I just suddenly have this really bad craving for Lyla’s chicken cacciatore.”

There is something about the way Felicity is licking her lips that makes Oliver feel alarmed. Had the concept of being away from their children forever finally taken its toll on her resulting in some behavioral changes? They’d been going off world for various missions every few weeks. This match making gig tested their brains and assorted skills (who knew wrangling doppelgängers would be so taxing) but they had been highly successful and during the times they did spend at home, despite yearning for their children Oliver had truly felt that Felicity was happy.

“Felicity,” he says gently taking both of her hands. “If Doppelgänger Oliver takes his Felicity to this dinner do you know how many armed assassins will be present in the one place? We cannot risk it by sneaking in to steal some food. How about we go home and I will make you some chicken cacciatore? With Chocolate molten cake for dessert? And almond pralines to munch on?”

“Why don’t you take me to Big Belly Burger in this world for a quick bite and then we go back and you make me your famous Chilli with all the promised extras? You agree to that and I’ll leave without any fanfare.”

His wife is beaming at him as she rubs her hands together gleefully. Perhaps the situation wasn’t as bad as he thought. It was still his instinct to worry and prepare for the worse outcome. Felicity’s quirks had centered on food lately more than anything. It would be a stretch to link it to missing the kids, even for a worry wart like him.

“You’ve got yourself a deal Mrs. Queen,” Oliver grins as he pulls her into his arms and gently marches her out of the Palmer Tech building.

***

“Based on all the coordinates we’ve mapped out I am pretty sure I can work out the next location our Monitor will be at,” William declares, looking pleased with himself as he marks another virtual pin on the board in front of them. It had only taken them the best part of two months but there was no doubt who the Monitor was, where he had been and where he will go. They were one step closer to finding their parents.

“Yeah except we don’t need him anymore,” Mia retorts with a confident and slightly smug air. Will casts his sister a withering glance. He was used to her bullish, gung ho ways but they were truly messing with things they didn’t know about and here she was acting like they had the means to happily swoop in and pluck their parents from wherever.

“If you have a plan to just magically rescue Mom and Dad do share it. I’m all ears."

“Oh don’t take that sarcastic, superior tone with me,” Mia rolls her eyes at her brother. “Look at where you have your pins. He’s been to earth a few times, all these other places once, this one particular place multiple times with a certain frequency. Now what does this tell you?”

“That Felicity and Oliver are located there,” William beams at his sister in disbelief. They had really done it. They knew theoretically where their parents were. Now they just needed to get to them.

“I can get us to them if we can find either Curtis or Cisco. One of Felicity’s old friends. They can help me build a means to travel across the multiverse.” 

William’s face lights up and he’s so caught up in the idea the only thing he can think of is to find one of Felicity’s old cronies right away. Even if it meant turning up at their doorstep at 3am in the morning and not sleeping or resting in the process.

“Hello. I’m beginning to resent your attitude towards me,” Mia snaps at him, waving her arms in front of his face, looking agitated.

Will zips back from his excitement to shoot his sister a puzzled look. What could she possibly be offended about now? He was trying to save their parents. He didn’t have time to pander to her and since when did she ever get huffy about anything anyway? Mia punched first and asked questions later but she wasn’t the type to take things personally.

“What are you upset about? I’m going to work on it right away and then we can go find Mom and Dad.”

“You don’t need Cisco or Curtis. You have me.” Mia crosses her arms as she glares at her brother.

“With all due respect Mia, it’s not like you can punch your way across the universe. I can modify some old tech that I found in Felicity’s collection but I am going to need an extra set of hands to build the device.” 

Will is feeling impatient with his sister now. They were on the cusp of getting their parents back and to be truthful he had no time for her feelings in that moment.

“Why do you assume I can’t do anything besides punch my way through things and scale walls? I don’t assume you can’t mow your way through a room of guards. I am my mother’s child too.”

“See I’m pretty sure you take after Dad and I took after Felicity. And in response to your question I would be smashed by anyone in a fight, let alone trained guards.”

William knew his sister was quick witted and whip smart but he simply didn’t expect her to be an engineer on the side as well.

“Well dearest big brother, just because you are one note, doesn’t mean I am as well. I’ll have you know I can build electronics with the best of them. Mom had me trained in that, paranoid freak that she was, said you never know when it would come in handy. So you have yourself a worker bee right here. No need to waste time finding old associates.”

Mia is positively gloating now and despite the fact that he loves her, William can’t resist the urge to take his sister down a peg or two. She would be insufferable if it turns out she was an engineering genius as well.

“I honestly thought you were all brawn but of course we can give it a try.”

Smiling sweetly at his sister William puts his head down and attempts to commence work however Mia wasn’t going to let that jibe go unpunished. Within half a second William finds himself in a headlock with Mia grabbing his nose and threatening to tweak it.

“All brawn huh. Just you try and use your brains to get out of this big brother if you’re so smart. This is not even League of Assassins training. This is just me toying with you.”

“I swear to god Mia if you pull at my ears or my nose you will get it when we find our parents again.”

“You really didn’t just threaten to tell on me,” Mia laughs at him in disbelief.

“Twenty years I didn’t see Felicity and then you abuse me when she’s gone. She at least raised you. Who do you think she’s going to feel sorry for and side with when I tell her you put me in a headlock whenever things don’t go your way.”

Mia lets go of him and snorts in disgust, “Seriously just start designing the device.”

“Ha! You’re still scared of Felicity,” William gets the last word in before getting to work.

***

“This is sooo good. I never did get around to asking you, how did you keep up with your cooking all these years? You never mentioned it but did you whip up a pot of chilli for yourself and our friend the Monitor in between missions? Or is it like riding a bike? You never forget those tried and tested recipes? Mia did most of the cooking for us once she realized there was an alternative to eating my food. Find another way was her motto in regards to my cooking. Can you pass me the cayenne? It’s perfect! Sooo good I just need another dash of cayenne.”

Oliver wordlessly hands his wife the shaker full of cayenne pepper and watches Felcity with an intense, thoughtful expression on his face as she proceeds to shake the contents into her chilli.

Normally he welcomed each and every story about the kids but tonight he couldn’t put his mind at rest to enjoy a story about them or ask additional questions. Tonight he was firmly fixated on Felicity. To work out what it is about her that was amiss.

Food. Felicity’s strange behavior started and ended with food. Heck even all her preoccupation was centred around food. She wasn’t like this when she first arrived. They’d had a lifetime to try and catch up on and most of their discussions revolved around the kids. Now suddenly it had shifted to food. There was only one other time in her life when this had happened.

Oliver shakes his head quickly and takes a few deep breaths to pull himself back to reality. The first blossoms of hope were beginning to bloom within his heart and they were dangerous. Unrealistic. Unfounded. 

No. It couldn’t be. He and Felicity were in their fifties and being here together after twenty years was a miracle. He couldn’t, wouldn’t dare to be so selfish so as to even contemplate a second miracle.

Quietly Oliver reaches over and grabs Felicity’s hand. She’s unperturbed by his silence and is using her unoccupied arm to dish herself up another ladle of chilli. 

The wondering mind is a dangerous thing Oliver tells himself. He should and did feel blessed being here with this magnificent woman. The love of his life. There was no need for foolish thoughts or daydreams.


End file.
